Chapter 21

Different

The two cloaked men walked down the long corridor, nervous of what's to come. They had been tasked to find Levy McGarden after she'd disappeared over a month ago. Somehow, she just vanished.

The two men entered his office, walking on eggshells. They faced their superior, turning to each other to determine who would give him the bad news.

"Well?" The man asked, getting impatient.

"U-Um," one cloaked man said. "W-we can't find her, sir. We've checked everywhere."

"Yeah, and Redfox's apartment was vacant. It looked like it had been vacant for some time now," the other cloaked man chimed in.

"B-But we know they're apart of Fairy Tail, and she spends a lot of time at the guild." The first cloaked man slid a piece of paper on the table with the location of the guild.

"We can't seem to track her home location," he said, looking at the ground. "We're sorry, sir."

The men waited for a response, for what seemed like forever, until one cloaked man felt a strong hand on his shoulder. "That just means," he paused. All that was heard were the sounds of bones breaking. "You didn't try hard enough." The remaining cloaked man standing didn't have enough time to even register that his comrade had fallen. The last thing he felt was a hand on his neck as he fell to the ground.

"I guess if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," he said, adjusting his tie and stepping over the bodies, exiting the room.

It had been a little over a week since Mira spotted Levy and Gajeel, and she was getting antsy. After getting caught by Gray and Juvia, Levy realized she wasn't being careful enough. She'd purposely been avoiding Mira, but she knew she needed to make an appearance soon or it'd look suspicious.

Gajeel was laying on the couch, half asleep when Levy decided to stop by the guild. She didn't want to wake him, so she knocked on Lily's door to see if he would come along.

"Lily," she said through his bedroom door. "Would you mind coming to the guild with me?"

Lily opened the door and peeked around, looking for Gajeel.

"He's asleep, and I didn't want to wake him."

"Sure," Lily said. "Give me a minute and I'll be ready."

Levy and Lily got to the guild and separated, Levy off looking for Lucy and Lily looking for Natsu and Happy. Levy was about to turn into the library only to be stopped by Mira.

"So!"

Levy nearly jumped out of her skin, stumbling back into the wall.

"Why so jumpy?"

"U-uh, you startled me, that's all," a nervous Levy said.

Mirajane's eyes traveled the petite woman's body, trying to find any sign of the dragon slayer, stopping at her scarf.

"That's a lovely scarf," she said smiling, a plan hatching inside her head. There had to be something under there.

"Thank you, Ga—my friend bought it for me," Levy face palmed internally, praying the Take Over mage didn't catch on.

Oh, but she did.

"Mind if I feel the fabric?" Mira asked innocently. 'If Levy was hiding something, she wouldn't be dumb enough to fall for this trick,' she thought to herself. 'But if she's not hiding anything, she wouldn't mind. Either way, that scarf's getting yanked off!'

Levy was very suspicious of Mira. She knew the game she was playing; she also knew that scarf would be ripped away if Mira got too close. Not wanting to raise any eyebrows, Levy's eyes darted around, looking for a reason to get out of this situation.

"Um…"

Mira's hands were dangerously close to the scarf, and Levy thought it would be suspect if she told her no.

"Levy!" Lucy came around the corner, seeing the events that were about to unfold.

"Oh, hey Luce!" Levy used her as a perfect excuse to leave the conversation, walking over to the tall blonde and hugging her.

"I'll see you later, Mira," Levy said, walking away with Lucy.

Mira was annoyed, but she was getting the reactions out of Levy that she wanted, so for now, she was content.

Levy and Lucy head into the library and sit at their usual table.

"Thanks for getting me out of that back there," Levy said, adjusting her scarf.

"No problem! I'm glad I made it to you in time, Mira probably would have yanked the scarf away."

"Yeah, I figured that's what she was doing. She definitely suspects something between me and Gajeel, but I don't think she has solid proof yet."

"Speaking of proof," Lucy motioned to the scarf. "Has his mark gone away yet?"

"No, I don't think it ever will. And on top of that, it doesn't matter if it goes away or not because all he ever wants to do is put new ones there."

Lucy giggled. "Looks like a scarf will be a permanent part of your wardrobe!"

Levy laughed, knowing that he was still having a hard time dealing with hiding their relationship, and that he probably wouldn't be able to last much longer. They sat there for a few hours, talking and giggling unaware of the impending danger.

Gajeel woke up feeling off. He checked around the hut, finding no signs of Lily or Levy. He grumbled under his breath, annoyed that she left without him. He figured the only place she could be was at the guild, or with Lucy. He debated calling Cana, but didn't want to cause a commotion, so he decided to go to the guild first.

Walking through the trees, he felt an ominous presence. "Shit…" he said to himself. At least Levy wasn't with him. His crimson eyes looked from place to place, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from, since for some reason, he couldn't smell whoever it was. He assumed it was the same person after Levy.

"The girl," A deep, menacing voice said. "Where is she?"

"Ya know," Gajeel said, turning his body into iron. "I'm getting real sick of you fuckers." He turned around, expecting to see the face the voice was coming from, but saw nothing.

"The girl. Or I'll kill every one of your little guildmates."

"Over. My. Dead. Body." Gajeel growled, ready to kill.

"That can be arranged," the man appeared behind Gajeel, a sword at the nape of his neck.

Levy and Lucy were walking out of the guild when they spotted a tattered Gajeel quickly making his way toward them, stopping them in their tracks.

"Gajeel," Levy says, seeing the look in his eyes.

He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away. "Tell Lily to meet us outside," he told the blonde gruffly.

"They found me."

Levy's face dropped. "They found our home?"

"No, just me. I woke up to look for you and was headed toward the guild when I felt his presence."

"Are you ok?" Levy asked, concerned. He was beaten up pretty bad.

"I'm fine, but this guy's no joke. He has an iron sword I can't eat," he grumbled.

That confused Levy, but right as she was about to speak, Lily came flying toward them.

"Gajeel!" He says, landing at their feet. "What happened?"

"The douche bag that's after Levy caught me in the woods,"

"You look bad," Lily observed.

"He has this stupid sword that I can't eat," Gajeel said, exasperated.

That seemed to peak the exceed's interest. "An iron sword you can't eat? The only iron you can't eat is your own."

Gajeel nodded his head. "He must have known that before finding me."

"But how?" Levy wondered. "Was it enchanted, maybe?"

Gajeel remembered the blade. The whole sword was engraved with intricate glyphs and symbols. He was told there was poison infused into the engravings, and can spread throughout the body in a matter of minutes if penetrated deep enough.

Gajeel motioned toward his leg, where he was cut by the blade. The skin around it had begun to darken.

"Gajeel!" Levy said, dropping to her knees to examine the wound.

"It was the blade. It's poisoned, or somethin'," He said.

"This looks bad," Lily said. "Maybe it's best we visit Porlyusica."

"I'll be fine," The slayer insisted. "It didn't get me deep enough."

"Thank goodness you got away before he could do any more damage," Lily said.

"I still want to go see Porlyusica," Levy said, not convinced in the slightest that he's ok.

"Levy," he looked at her with pleading eyes. "Please don't go."

Levy knew he needed her right now, and wandering off in the woods to go to some treehouse didn't seem like a good idea.

"I'm ok, I promise," he assured her. "I just want to go home and get some rest."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lily asked. "Don't you think he's still watching?"

Gajeel thought about it, and he didn't want to risk anyone finding out where he lived. As if on cue, Natsu and Lucy were headed their direction.

"Oi! Flame Brain!"

Natsu walked over to the injured slayer, taking in the view. "Whoa, what happened to you, ya sack of bolts?"

"Me and Levy are crashing with ya for a few days, that's what," Gajeel spat.

"Hey! I didn't agree to that!"

"Well, it's happening, get over it."

Gajeel quickly explained what was happening and Natsu understood, finally and unwillingly agreeing to let them stay at his place for a few days. They both thought it'd be a good idea because they'd have the upper hand if the man followed and attacked them again.

They settled on Natsu's couch, happy that they were safe for the night. Levy cleaned Gajeel's cuts and scrapes before getting ready for bed. That night, she lay awake, thinking about everything that was happening. She felt bad for dragging the people she cared about into this mess of hers. It'd be a lie if she hadn't thought about just turning herself over to whoever wants her just to keep her friends and family out of harm's way. 'There's no way Gajeel would let that happen,' she thought to herself.

She eventually dozed off in his arms, feeling warmer than she's ever been. As he held a sleeping Levy in his arms, she dreamt. She dreamt of a boy, who had short, but wild black hair that would get in his face sometimes. The child had hazel eyes, that looked like they changed colors when light hit them. He was so bubbly and full of energy, it made Levy remember back to when she was a kid. She had a playful spirit, that got dull and drowned in a sea of books when she got older. She missed being so carefree and was slightly jealous of the bouncing boy. She crouched down, eye level with the kid and smiled.

"Stay young as long as you can, you'll miss it when you're older." She pinched his cheek and the boy grinned.

Gajeel woke up the next morning to something smelling delicious. He opened his eyes and looked down at the woman in his arms, realizing the smell was coming from her. He rested his head on hers and breathed deeply, taking in all of her intoxicating scent, stirring something in his pants.

He slipped his hand up her shirt, squeezing her tit and pressed against her, causing her to wake up.

"Mmm," she moaned sleepily.

"Good mornin' Shrimp," he said in her ear, his warm breath sending chills down her spine. "You smell so damn good, right now."

Her body unconsciously pressed back into him, which made him move his hands down to her core.

"Wet already?" He smirked.

Levy moaned one more time before she was fully awake and took in her surroundings. Once she realized where she was, she swatted his hand away.

"We can't!" She whispered. "Natsu can hear us!"

"So what?" Gajeel growled low in her ear. "If he's smart, he'll leave for a little bit."

He kissed the mark on her neck. "I don't know what it is about you right now, but I have to have you."

Levy wanted to protest, but her body wouldn't do anything but give in to his touch.

"You drive me so crazy, Lev." He rolled her slightly on her back and hovered over her, taking in the beauty before him. He slipped his fingers in between her thighs and massaged her clit.

"Gajeel…" Levy moaned.

"Again," he commanded, low.

"Gajeel," she moaned again, his fingers getting more vigorous.

Natsu heard everything from the beginning. He was going to try to ignore it, but they were getting too into it for him.

"Take it somewhere else, Bolt Face!" Natsu yelled, swinging his door open.

Gajeel hated being interrupted, and his Shrimp smelled so good, it drowned his senses. He needed more of her, right now, and he'd go to great lengths to achieve that. Unfortunately, Hot Breath had to pay for this interruption, and he did, with a swift iron rod to the face. That sent Natsu flying back into his bedroom. Gajeel bolted the door shut to keep him in.

"Now," he said, returning his attention to his goddess. "Where were we?" He ignored Natsu's yelling.

He lifts her shirt to reveal her breasts, marveling in their glory. "You have an amazing body."

She blushed at his words, taking one of his hands in hers and placing it on one of her tits. Gajeel smirked, leaning down to give the other one some attention. He took a nipple in his mouth, her back arching into him.

"Gajeel…"

His red eyes met her begging, honey eyes. She knew how to beg without even speaking and that made him crazy.

"Fuck," he hissed. He wasn't in the mood for teasing. Her scent was turning him into an animal. He couldn't wait.

Lily was smart. He figured the morning would have started off with those two going at it, so he went for a walk to enjoy the fresh air. He saw Natsu walking his direction, visibly annoyed.

"I'm sorry," Lily said, knowing all too well what his issue was.

"Is it like this all the time?" The pink-haired man asked.

"All the time. Like they're rabbits. You get used to it after a while, honestly. I'm just glad he's happy."

"Yeah, well I don't want him to be happy all over my couch!"

"It'll be over soon," Pantherlily chuckled as he placed a paw on Natsu's shoulder.